Sculptor Sophie Prestigiacomo reflects our ongoing and tense dialogue with nature with her swamp creatures in the Marshes Nature Reserve of Séné in the Gulf of Morbihan in France. It began with two mysterious beings a few years ago, and after they departed, a recent crowdfunding campaign to bring eight total to the reserve. Or as the campaign stated (as translated from French): “more numerous, more curious and probably convinced by the first visit of their two ambassadors, there was a relationship tie with the human species.”

The figures are modeled with mud and seaweed, with the algae drying within the elements. The colors, textures, and “skin” of the creatures change over time, along with the organic landscape they inhabit. The sculptures offer a chance for onlookers to not only visit the site, but also engage in dialogue about biodiversity and our relationship to these lands.

Even though there’s a gothic, unsettling aspect to the design of the swamp creatures, the nature palettes and shifting nature of them offers a certain beauty. And even if we don’t understand what they are at first, viewers are drawn to make contact with them.